The Brixia Brescia team dominated the third meet of the Italian serie A1 held in Florence with a score of 166.450, earning 25 points toward their overall series ranking.

Vanessa Ferrari and Erika Fasana, both of whom competed at the American Cup a week earlier, didn’t perform on all four events. Fasana contributed to the team’s final score on vault, where she earned 14.600 for her DTY, and on bars, where she keeps her consistency on her new upgrades, performing a Maloney to bail, a toe-shoot, a Ray, and sticking her double layout dismount for a score of 14.350. Ferrari earned a 14.250 on beam for a routine which featured a round-off to layoutt, a switch leap connected to a ring leap, a Sissone to aerial walkover to sheep jump (though the first connection was pretty slow and she probably wasn’t credited), a switch half (with obvious form issues), a full turn, a switch ring leap, and stuck double pike dismount. On bars she scored a 13.900, with a 5.5 start value.

Martina Rizzelli performed on all the four events, and the highlight of her day was definitely her bars routine, where she delivered a Tkatchev connected to a pak, a Maloney to bail to Ray, and a full-in dismount for a score of 14.350, with a difficulty score of 6.0. She earned the same score for her DTY, though she suffered several mistakes both on beam and floor, scoring respectively a 13.000 and a 12.900 (with a 5.7 d-score).

The big surprise of the day form Brixia was Giorgia Villa, the 12-year-older gymnast who debuted in this Serie A meet. She performed a good FTY for a score of 13.900, and was especially delightful on floor, were she stuck all her four tumbling passes – a triple full, a 1.5 full to punch front layout, a sky-high double tuck, and a double pike, earning a 13.850 with a d-score of 5.2 (fun fact: she used Aly Raisman’s Hava Nagila music cut, and some parts of her choreography remembered the Olympic champion’s routine too).

GAL Lissone finally conquered the second spot on the podium with a score of 161.500 (earning 22 points toward their overall series ranking), and this was especially thanks to Carlotta Ferlito‘s performance. She was the best all-arounder of the day with a score of 55.400, even though she opted for easier routines than her usual, because of the ankle pain she is still suffering.

She had a clean routine on beam, where she scored a 14.000 with a 5.3 d-score, performing an aerial walkover to sheep jump (though she missed the connection), a bhs bhs layout series, a switch leap connected to a back tuck, a full turn, a split jump to wolf jump, a Sissone connected to side aerial, and finishing with a double full dismount. On vault, she delivered a clean FTY for a 14.100, while on bars she didn’t have any major mistakes, for a final score of 13.700.On floor, she made several changes to her routine: she kept the full-in as her first tumbling pass, but opted for a double full instead of the triple full, and finished with a double pike. She didn’t perform the Ferrari leap and the Memmel turn either, but debuted an L turn, for a final score of 13.600.

Elisa Meneghini is still getting back all her skills, and performed simplified routines again. She was clean on vault, where she earned a 14.050 for her FTY, and then she earned a 13.350 on bars. She struggled on beam, earning a 13.350 (5.3 d-score) with a 0.1 overtime deduction, and on floor she scored a 13.650 for a routine which featured a stuck full-in (with her chest a bit low), a double full and a double pike.

Artistica ’81 Trieste came in third with a score of 159.250, earning 20 points toward their overall series ranking. The team was led by Tea Ugrin, who was excellent especially on floor, where she earned 13.750 with a 5.4 d-score for a very clean routine which featured a triple full beautifully stuck, a double full, a double tuck with a hop, a double L turn, and a brand new Ferrari leap.

The veteran Federica Macrì was also a great help here, scoring a 13.500 (5.2 d-score) on floor, delivering a triple turn, a full-in with a hop, and sticking both her double pike and double tuck; she earned the same score on beam. Giorgia Campana performed on beam for the first time after the injury she suffered at the Italian Grand Prix last November, earning a 13.500 with a 4.8 start value; then she earned a 13.650 for a routine which featured a Ono 1.5, a Tkatchev, a bail to Ray, and a stuck double layout dismount.

The Pro Lissone team struggled throughout the meet, since Enus Mariani could perform only on bars, with a simplified routine for a final score of 13.450 (4.8 d-score); however, the Polish star Marta Pihan-Kulesza was consistent on both bars and floor, earning respectively a 13.550 and a 13.450.

The worst moment of the meet was Lara Mori‘s injury. She performed a brand new upgrade, a triple full dismount from beam, but she injured herself on the landing. It seems that she fractured her fibula, and this might keep her away from competition for quite a long time.

Following Saturday’s meet, the National team director Enrico Casella revealed the gymnasts who will compete at the upcoming European Championships held in Montpellier. Fasana, Ferlito, Ferrari, and Mariani were all named to the WAG team while the MAG team features Andrea Cingolani, Tommaso de Vecchis, Ludovico Edalli, Matteo Morandi, Enrico Pozzo, and Lorenzo Ticchi.

After her remarkable performance in Dallas and the several good routines showed throughout the three Serie A meets, Fasana was a lock for this team, and could earn great achievements in the all-around and especially on floor, since she has both the difficulty and the execution to earn a spot in the event final.

Ferlito came back from the injuries and illnesses suffered in 2014, showing consistency on the four events and especially on beam, where she will try to make the event final in France, and could be a back-up for the all-around final if Ferrari is unable to compete on more than just beam and floor. The mononucleosis she suffered in the past few months could be a factor in her ability to compete all four, in which case her focus would shift to just the two events where she has the best chances at earning medals.

Mariani’s spot isn’t secure just yet. She is still recovering from a foot injury, and the Italian federation will use Jesolo as a final test for her readiness. If she successfully performs the 5.9 start value she’s capable of on bars, she’ll fly to Montpellier. If not, she will be replaced with another gymnast…most likely Rizzelli.

The four girls named for Euros are the best options for Italy right now, since Meneghini is slowly getting back all her skills and doesn’t look ready for an international assignments. Rizzelli finally shows consistency on bars, but she needs to work on her handstands, while are a bit lacking right now, while Mori is out due to her injury.

As for the men, Cingolani has potential to make the floor final (he is the 2013 bronze medal on this event), the ring final and the vault final, as well as the all-around final. Ludovico Edalli will fight for a spot in the all-around final as well (he placed 24th in the World Championships all-around competition) and for a spot in the parallel bars final. Morandi, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist on rings, performed very well throughout the Serie A meets and should fight for a medal on this event.

As with the women, this team is the best one Italy can select right now, since both the promising Nicola Bartolini and Paolo Principi suffered injuries recently, while the pommel horse veteran Alberto Busnari isn’t at the top of his form.

Article by Valeria Violi